Expressing her dissatisfaction over the "inadequate number of COVID-19 vaccines" supplied to West Bengal, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said her government "strongly feels" that all people of the state should be inoculated free of cost. The chief minister also said that her government was ready to bear the financial burden for providing the doses free of charge in the state, if need be.
According to a state government official, Bengal was supposed to receive over 10 lakh vaccines in the first phase, but have got 6.89 lakh doses so far. The CM, while telephonically addressing all doctors, nurses, hospital support staff, students — who were attending a virtual meet from the 207 centres where Saturday's inoculation process started — said she "strongly felt that all people of West Bengal should get vaccines free of cost as early as possible", an official statement said.
Chief Secretariat Alapan Bandopadhyay chaired the virtual meet from the state secretariat. "The CM also mentioned that she has requested the central government to supply adequate numbers of vaccines, not only for the frontline workers but also for all the people of West Bengal. If needed, the state might bear the financial burden," the statement said.
During her address, Banerjee thanked health care workers for toiling hard amid the pandemic-induced crisis and providing treatment to the infected, besides performing their other medical duties. Earlier in the day, the chief secretary had held a virtual meeting with senior officials and monitored the entire inoculation process at different sites.
In the first phase of the vaccination drive, priority has been given to healthcare professionals, which include doctors, nurses, hospital support staff, ANMs and ASHAs. Incidentally, Banerjee had said last week that her government was making arrangements to provide COVID-19 vaccines for free to the people of the state.
In an open letter, the Trinamool Congress supremo had said that 'Covid warriors' or frontline workers such as policemen, home guards, civil defence volunteers, and correctional home and disaster management employees would be administered the vaccine on a priority basis.
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